Have you ever thrown a book in the bin?

[HopSpringsEternal]

I did yesterday for I think the 3rd time in my life.
The first was that book by Gina Ford when DS1 was about 2 weeks old. It was all the rage at the time but DS definitely didn't want to follow the rules. In fact it was DH that threw it out and I was definitely a lot more.content.
The second was when I got out my old Doctor Dolittle books to read the kids and I realised they were littered with the N word. In a sort patronising racist way "the nice n man". Didn't want that word seen or normalised by any other kids so in the recycling it went.
The last was yesterday. Lying in bed realised their was a Neil Gaiman book on my book shelf. Didn't not want a book of that vile bastard staring at me so into the bin he went.
Foot all other books if I don't want them anymore.I just take them to the charity shop. But I didn't want to inflict the above three on anybody else.
Has anyone else?

From just the title & author it sounds like something a 6 year old could write. But I find her podcasts incredibly smug & she's so over the top fawning with all her guests

Only once - Charlie and the great glass elevator. The racism, particularly in a children's book, is just too much.

I very much doubt that 90% of people would object to reading Neil Gaiman. Many might not be interested and others will certainly share your feelings but I don’t buy that many would care enough to actively avoid his books. You don’t believe it either as you were concerned that others might enjoy it and want to buy more though as another poster pointed out it may mean that they buy a copy from a new bookstore instead rather than buy the copy that you could have donated which would have earned him no further royalties. It’s a very puritanical attitude that you have. There are certain authors whom I don’t particularly want to give money to but I wouldn’t want to make that decision for others or to try to influence them in that regard. It’s very odd to me that you do. The actual disposal of the book is much less of an issue than the idea that you are the arbiter of decency.

Plenty I have wanted to bin/recycle because they were boring or I couldn’t get through them (like A Court of Thorns and Roses - found it a bit triggering!). But my grandfather was a publisher so grew up having to be very respectful of books - not allowed to turn down pages or bend the spine! I would probably throw away a racist book though, with the mountains of second hand book available I’m sure someone could find a recent reprint if they wanted

No I always bring them to the charity shop regardless of how bad they are . I once set a cookbook on fire by accident and threw it in the bin after throwing it into the sink!

I anticipated Year of the Locust for ages, bought it and took it to Mexico to read on my holiday. It was the biggest pile of shite ever. I was so disappointed. I also left it in Mexico.

The other one was 50 shades of gray. I deleted that from my kindle. It was badly written porn.

I assume from your post that well written porn would be fine!

I threw away The Binding. Can’t remember who it was by. It was so upsetting and awful that I didn’t want anyone to innocently read it and be upset like I was. It contained the worst, most devastating situation I have ever read. I mean it couldn’t happen in real life, it was supernatural but even so. Bought in lockdown in desperation because the cover made it look like my kind of book.

Shantaram went in the bin, what a pile of poo.

Do PPs not understand the difference between an individual choosing to bin books that they own based on their own personal values (or shelf space) - and the state / publishing industry binning or censoring books? Two completely different things. The OP owes nobody a free book and if she wants to put her copy of Neil Gaiman through the shredder, that's her choice.

I have 1000s of books, love books as objects and hate waste but I put plenty of books in recycling - bad condition, out of date, 'must have gift' type books the charity shop already has dozens of copies of - 50 Shades of Clarkson's Thursday Murder Club type books. It's 2026 and any book in the past 50 years will exist in some format somewhere. I don't have a moral duty to some random author to keep their work alive.

On that note, I won't bin it, but I have just thrown All Fours by Miranda July across the room. Some of the prose is good but the main character and plot are so boring and unconvincing.

The Bunker Diary. It was so upsetting that I couldn’t have it in the house.

Under the Dome by Stephen King. A massive book with a cop out ending. Not only did I put it in the bin, I threw it across the room in disgust.

A few years ago I was manning (womanning) the used books stall at DCs' primary school fete, and realised I'd seen some of these books there year after year, and they were never going to sell, even for 50p. So I sneakily slipped a dog-eared copy of the 2004 Lonely Planet Guide to Barcelona into the recycling bin. But some helpful soul rescued it when I wasn't looking and put it back on the table. It's probably still up for sale today

2004 Lonely Planet Guide to Barcelona
😂

To be fair the only update might be 'they have now finished building Sagrada Familia'.

In the light of all the 'donate don't dispose' voices in this thread I have checked goodreads reviews of the book I mentioned above and have been validated by the one star reviews: egs

"I feel dumber for having read this book."
"This book makes me feel so fucking pissed."
"one of my classmates came up to me and said that I should smile because I look like I could kill someone at that moment. That's how much this book ruined my whole day"

I mean, I really felt the same way. This book was an affront to all things print and it needed deleting from my life. Donating it would have felt like accidentally recommending it to the universe.

I did recently throw some David Walliams away. The charity shops are saturated with them anyway and I didn’t feel too guilty.

I agree. She is such a fawner on her podcast.

I listened to one by accident and she seems to think her listeners are idiots.

What was the book?

Yes American Psycho. I was deeply upset by the horrific level of violence against women and didnt want my teenage DS reading it.

Oh I put it up thread One True Loves by Taylor J-R

I bought a copy of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe to read while on an autumn holiday, thinking it would be a nice, light seasonal read. It was one of the worst books I've ever read, it was like it had been written by AI with absolutely cringe worthy sex scenes and a completely predictable ending. I threw it in the bin in a rage that I'd wasted money on it in the first place.

I read a bit of the Da Vinci Code in a holiday house once to see what the fuss was about, and threw it across the room, it was so bad. I didn't bin it, obviously, as it wasn't mine.

I enjoyed the Time Traveler's wife though, which just goes to show...something!

I’ve heard it isn’t as good as the rest of the series, but is it that bad? I had hoped that would be my half term read and was really looking forward to it.

I’ve had to throw away a set of encyclopaedias as part of a house clearance. It felt like such a waste to get rid of beautifully bound hardback books but they are no good to anyone and take up so much space.

oh god that book gives me the rage.
I have (had) lots of books and decided to sell/donate/recycle some. That was one that i ripped up before recycling (the wife in that makes me so so so angry, just thinking about it i am getting the rage)

Oh Crap. It seems beloved on here but the tone is awful. But I do find a lot of beloved MN parenting books really unhelpful!